I don’t dare deny the plain possibility the NBA may have over-dribbled past Paul Westphal, as it has for so many oldies but goodies.
Just as I won’t reject the notion that men born in the 1950s are unable to coach the uncoachable and relate to today’s excessively indulged baby bawlers.
Jerry Sloan (March 28, 1942, actually), Jim O’Brien, Kurt Rambis and John Kuester were unavailable for a no-comment. Flip Saunders, Alvin Gentry and Mike D’Antoni soon may be, too.
Alternatively, Gregg Popovich (at least as long as Tim Duncan continues to police the Spurs), Tom Thibodeau, George Karl, Lionel Hollins, Doug Collins, Larry Drew and Stan Van Gundy (well, not so much) appear to be acceptably representing the over-50 coaching collection, whereas Paul Silas has his son, Stephen, as a translator.
All of those in the above graph are blessed with enough talented personnel to succeed. The ruthless reality is, old, middle-aged or a rookie like Mark Jackson, the chance to survive more than a season or two is abysmal should the perceived star(s) tune out, turn away or take on the coach … and are allowed by management to get away with such undercutting insolence.
That’s certainly what appears to have happened in Sacramento. From the messy look of things, the ungrateful dead-end kids are now stage-managing the Kings’ garbled concert.
Not just the 21-year-old DeMarcus Cousins, a destabilizing influence since arriving last season from Kentucky as the No. 5 pick with no respect for authority.
I’m taking an educated guess and accusing Tyreke Evans — explicitly ordered to pass more to corner marksmen and drive less with his head down or suffer the squatting consequences — of being intimately involved as well in Westphal’s whacking, seven games, five of them losses, into this short-sheeted season.
That’s not even time to catch a second wind, much less figure out how to incorporate fresh fortification with egos enlarged by swollen contracts or the prospects of same, and, at the same time, discipline the dysfunctional.
Still, something drastic had to be done, as evidenced by so many blowouts (66-point differential) in the last four outings. Once again the prideless proved it’s never too early to quit on a coach and shamelessly stop competing.
Who else was going to take the hit? Last summer, assistants Truck Robinson and Mario Elie, who wouldn’t let Cousins and Evans slide, were notified they would not be invited back. It was easy for the Maloof brothers to cash in Westphal’s chips; he’s the league’s lowest paid head coach at less than $1 million.
Despite the need for change, what a terrible message team president Geoff Petrie is sending throughout the league to the High Masses of Mopes. Last I looked Cousins and Evans are not Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson. If you’re going to genuflect in front of coach-killers and entrust your future to someone, then you do like Jerry Buss did in 1982 when he allowed Magic Johnson to submarine Paul Westhead.
And if you’re going to kowtow, why hedge? Why bother to promote assistant Keith Smart? Why didn’t management simply cut to the chase and completely debase itself? The way to go was to appoint the insurgents’ AAU coaches as co-asset-kissers.
Lost in the off-the-court anarchy is the disorder that remains on the court. The Kings don’t need a new coach; they need a real point guard. I hate to be the one to break it to the Maloofs and Petrie, but Evans is not and never will be a maker of plays for anyone but himself; his assists are afterthoughts once he has exhausted every option to shoot.
Last season, the Kings were last in the league in assists (13.7). They currently employ four off-guards: Evans, John Salmons, Marcus Thornton and Jimmer Fredette. Hell, five if you want to count seldom-used Francisco Garcia. All shoot first and distribute second. That’s why the team averaged more turnovers (15) than assists.
What’s more, the Kings allow opponents to shoot over 48 percent and give up over 102 points, both next from the bottom.
Granted, that’s all effort, er, lack thereof. Yes, the team’s effort is bound to improve for the next few games, maybe even a couple weeks or so. But when things go bad, which is guaranteed to happen, Cousins will still be Cousins, Evans will still be Evans, and Thornton will still be Thornton. Stay tuned for another wave of finger-pointing and pouting.
What chance does Smart have to rein them in when management permits selfish sloths to run off the coach?
What must Pete Carril, Petrie’s Princeton coach and a Kings consultant, be thinking! About a give-and-go with his keys … out the back door.
* “Paul Pierce always seems so slow to me but super effective,” e-mails Washington Generals forward observer Tom Davis. “Even his fakes are slow, which makes them more realistic.”
Manu Ginobili’s broken left hand is a perfect example of what can happen when the fifth metacarpal doesn’t have a long enough training camp.
Last time a Suns team got run out of an arena as it was by the Thunder (19-2 in fast-break points), David Thirdkill was The Sheriff of Maricopa County.